I tried to speak to the guy at FtBill. he was rude and dismissive so 3 of us moved on and opted not to give them our money. Now am quite glad we did. Sorry OP, that’s just not good enough really, I’d be livid.

Damn that’s quite bad! It happened to my forks too with the Mucky Nutz, but nowhere near as bad as that, I reduced it wetting the velco and stretching it around to keep it really tight. Although I thought it was pretty obvious it would dull the paintwork, just like a crud catcher does and eventually take off the paint after a few years, not a few days.

I will be applying helitape to the area before fitting on a new bike. I replaced the Velcro with cable ties which reduced the guard movement.

The response looks perfectly reasonable to me. I don’t know what else you could expect from contact between paint and plastic when you throw some fine, wet grit into the equation. Helitape is obviously the way to go.

I guess there’s an argument that the fitting instructions should include this as a recommendation for those that can’t see the inevitable outcome.

You will get the same result with all the leading anti spray systems including RRP, mucky nutz etc,

Bullcrap! I’ve got both of these on my bikes and have had no issues whatsoever.
Unless it was really flapping around, and I guess you would have noticed this if it was, this seems to be down to bad design. The RRP guard is neoprene, so flexible, and the Mucky Nutz is thinner plastic and so will be more flexible, and move less. I suspect the problem here is the larger size, weight, and relative inflexibility of this design.

Wouldn’t expect that level of damage after one days riding.
Having said that though, looking at the photos, it looks like you’ve got the velcro on with the hard face against the forks which could go some way to explaining this. I know the instructions on the mucky nutz guards specifically say to put the velcro on with the soft side against the forks/frame to prevent rubbing like this.

I’ve flat spotted frames with cables, chewed through swing arms with tyres, cut groves in frames and forks with brake hoses. You won’t see me in the fs section very often but I do tape anything that is in contact with anything that moves.

It does seem like a lot of damage for a short time. I’d have helicopter taped it myself without a doubt but I suppose what you’d say is, if it’s so essential and they’re saying that amount of damage is to be expected, it falls on them to recommend it or maybe even provide tape in the kit. But certainly to make you aware.

I’ve used mudhuggers on my bike as well, haven’t had any marks at all on the forks, but the rear has left 5 cable tie marks on each side of my swingarm. I just put it down to my mistake for not sufficiently taping it up.

In that case, I would argue that you expected there to be minor superficial marks from use. Like most have said, it’s pretty obvious you’ll get some rubbing, but your photos are dreadful for 1 day’s use. If this level of damage is what they expect they have a responsibility to inform you.

Presumably you’re after a respray? Get a quote and send it to them. (Of course, if you bought it from a shop and not direct, then that’s who you need to talk to.)

In hindsight, I can see how it happened.
But as I have never had the problem before with the RRP or Mucky Nutz

I destroyed a mucky nutz, by not taking it off when putting the bike in the boot of the car, so this seemed better as it was more solid. however I still bent it putting it into the car (bent out again), and wanted to use the Velcro so I could take it off and on.

Looking at the forum title (SHOUT) your looking for support & outrage so you can push them into a settlement, thankfully this ain’t the US & most ppl have enough common sense to see this ‘issue’ for what it is..

Blimey that’s a lot of wear. Not used a mud hugger but several muckynutz are doing ok on my bikes.

Obviously a guard causing that much damage is not normal but if it was wobbling about whilst covered in mud then that kind of thing is to be expected TBH. Whether the wobbling is down to crap design or user error at setup is something I’ll leave to more knowledgeable people to decide.

Now I know its a mountain bike, and I am not too precious, the odd scratch, dent or dink is to be expected but SERIOUSLY….

I haven’t experienced this with a mucky nutz or a RRP

Am I being unreasonable with this????

full email and response below:

Dear Eric,

We are sorry that you are upset regarding the damage to your forks, in truth this is an inevitable result when attaching anything to an MTB frame that gets covered in fine grit and water and then shake the whole thing by riding down bumpy trails. You will get the same result with all the leading anti spray systems including RRP, mucky nutz etc, I know this because I have used them myself and it damaged my paintwork it is a normal result especially if the item is very slightly loose.
The only way you can reduce this scuffing is by using some form of protective tape at the contact points and keeping the hugger held as firmly as possible with the velcro or zip ties to minimise the chaffing effect.
We see this as a normal and expected result of use and would not accept any liability.

Yours Faithfully

Bruce Gardiner

?

On 5 August 2014 10:37,… wrote:

Hi, after speaking to one of your guys at the Fort William DH world cup, I bought a mudhugger front guard.

We have been lucky with the weather recently, but last week was my first wet day, and had a day DH riding in the rain.

I came away happy with the performance, keeping most of the mud and water out of my eyes, however when I removed the guard to clean the bike, I noticed a large amount of damage to the fork clearly caused by your guard!

Overall I’m sort of with the Mud Hugger guy. Attach anything to your bike in those conditions without helitape and it’s going to be an issue.

In which case Mud hugger should have warned buyers about the possible damage. It mat be obvious to them and many of us but it won’t be obvious to everyone.
I would have thought if a product is likely to damage your bike then full instructions or a warning should be included. It’s not really good enough to say damage is normal after the event.

My mate has had similar on his rear seatstays with a mudhugger rear guard, and me the same with a Zefal rear guard despite application of Helitape – it just wears straight through. Yes, a bit surprising and unexpected, but next winter i’ll apply something a bit more robust than helitape or put a few layers of helitape on.

Rockplough – Member
If the instructions don’t at least advise helitape, then I think that’s a very poor response from MudHugger.

A novice biker isn’t to know how destructive wet mud can be, and that should be the test I feel. The instructions for my Crud Road Racers even mentioned it, and they’re for road bikes.

If – being none the wiser – a mudguard had ground into the metal on my forks like that I would be raging. Especially after a response that amounts to ‘You should have known.’.

For what it’s worth I run a muckynutz guard from time to time. Never taped the fork because the guard is so light. No problems with fork damage.

+1.

Why do they provide frame tape for the rear guard, but not the front if they know that it’s going to be an issue? They should be providing heli tape, or warning of the risks at the very least and recommending that you provide your own protection.

Not that it helps you now, but I wonder if some cut up inner tube strategically placed could prevent this? It’s quite good at preventing things moving as well as providing a damping effect to vibrations.

I’ve used a Mucky Nutz for over a year now and apart from a bit of dulling where the paint has gained lots of very fine scratches, it is fine.

Does it state anywhere on the packaging or instructions that it came with that is may cause damage to paint, etc?

Should it really need such a warning?

you’ve bought a product to place in close rubbing contact with your precious frame/fork specifically when you intend to ride it in muddy, gritty, wet conditions…

No doubt you’ve seen the kind of damage cable outers/brake lines can do to frame finishes, most people worried about the paint on their dandyhorse buy protective patches/use a bit of tape to prevent such damage, this is basically the same thing…

Should shimano be putting labels on every inch of gear outer warning users that SP51 might scuff their paint?

It must be me but I don’t really see that as damage to the forks. It’s the paint rubbing off, there appears to be no structural or internal damage. That’s what happens with mountain bikes. If the stantions were damaged like that then I would be seriously upset, but that’s not the case.

I would paint or tape it over if it upsets you, but to me, that’s what happens when you attach things to your bike and ride them in the mud, as the letter suggests. A bit of black electrical tape round the legs for a quick fix.